The Knight Shift
'The Knight Shift''' is a webseries in The Arknverse. Created by DeathlyLogic, it is the cornerstone of the Arknthology storyline. It crosses over with Michael's Camera ''and ''No More Truths. Premise The series follows a young man called The Knight, who (after getting into a car accident with his friends) finds himself trapped in a strange house and tormented by supernatural forces. The story is told over the course of one season, in two acts (plus a follow-up, The Knight Shift: End Times). Summary Act I A young man (nicknamed "The Knight" due his hoodie, which resembles a knight's armor) is driving to a costume party at night with two of his friends. After getting in an accident ― which the driver claims was caused by hitting an animal in the road ― the men seek help in a nearby neighborhood. They knock on the door of the closest house, and are surprised to find it unlocked. The house is seemingly deserted, and Knight feels uneasy about trespassing, but his friends insist on exploring and looking around. Knight reluctantly takes up a dragon head cane to help him walk, since he injured his leg in the crash." [ 1 The Knight ]", The Knight Shift. As time passes, Knight displays bizarre symptoms: his eyes turn a glowing blue color, his behavior becomes increasingly aggressive, and he acquires a strange, raspy voice. After a series of unsettling incidents, which conclude with Knight being attacked (and further injured) by an unseen force, Knight loses his temper and lashes out at his friends, attacking them. Reverting to a feral, berserker-like state, he stalks his friends through the darkened house before killing them with the owner's handgun and blacking out."[ 1 The Knight ]", The Knight Shift. Knight awakens to find himself alone, and unable to leave the house."[Plague|[2 Plague]]", The Knight Shift. As he attempts to make sense of what has happened, he finds himself being put through a series of torments, often with nothing but his camera to keep him company. Unbeknownst to Knight, his camera is given a direct feed into the Cloud9 stream, giving viewers a front row seat to his misery. It soon becomes clear that the house is actually a Hell-like dimension in which Knight is trapped; over time, he is forced to endure isolation, mind-bending architecture, starvation, monster attacks, hand creatures that steal his tools and weapons at night, and even death. Several times, he believes he has escaped, only to be returned to the house moments later. When he actually does manage to escape, he is mutilated by the Dekn Persophelus Redgrave as punishment. Soon enough, eight eternities after Knight's torment begins, his former friend "Ed" appears and begins his personal torments, revealing himself to be Hash'bor'kanibal: the Dekn Lord of Pain, Torment, and Cheese. His torments continue until an entity known as The Guilted One appears and seemingly rescues Knight, delivering him to Cedric Kharon and Theatre Mask."[The Shift|[8 The Shift]]", The Knight Shift. Interlude (Michael's Camera ''and ''No More Truths) The Knight (now revealed to be Ellpagg, a powerful Arkn warrior) joins Cedric's band of travelers."Labyrinth of Teeth and Flesh (2)", No More Truths.'' After several days of travel, however, Malek abruptly turns his gun on "Knight", who reveals himself to be a disguised Hash'bor'kanibal''"The Ruse (Ending of Act II)", No More Truths.'' (whom Malek mistakenly took in Knight's place). Hash'born morphs into his skeletal form and attacks the group, who manage to escape (but at the loss of their cricket companion, Scabs). Once they regroup, Malek departs and rescues the real Knight. Rather than joining Cedric's crew, however, Knight hopes to learn more about Hash'born's plans by finding Michael Knight, his Guarded Human. Knight takes Michael as a vessel, and instructs him to retrieve an old letter from R.G.L. containing information about the Arkn, Dekn, and the Arknangels."The letter", ''Michael's Camera.'' '' Hash'born, having returned to the Infernous, notes Knight's escape. With the help of The Hooks Killer, he enters .Reality through the vessel of a young man named Luke Anton. Hash'born tracks down Michael Knight, arriving in Michael's current reality shortly after Knight appears. He confronts Michael and threatens him, drawing Knight out; the two briefly face off, then sit down to tea.'' Knight uses the opportunity to get to know Hash'born's plans in person. Immediately afterward, Hash'born tells Knight that the Hethe need to see him in person, and encourages him to return to the Infernous."hahaha", ''Michael's Camera.'' This turns out to be a trap, however, and Knight is taken prisoner and has his memories of Hash'born's plans wiped. Shortly after this, the May 15th Catastrophe occurs, as Hash'born once again tracks down Michael and threatens him. However, Hash'born is quickly sent back to the Infernous himself by a bullet to his skull, courtesy of a self-proclaimed "Fallen Hethe"."Aftermath to the Prelude to the Catastrophe of May 15", ''Michael's Camera. Act II Once again a prisoner in the Infernous, The Knight (now aware that he's the Arkn prince Ellpagg) finds himself imprisoned with Hash'born (now known to be The Carver, the ruler of the Dekn)."9-1 Fear of the Reaper", The Knight Shift. Knight promises Carver that they will get out together. However, because Carver is now a prisoner himself, the realm starts to meld to what he fears; this separates Ellpagg and Carver, allowing Carver to be attacked by a vision of Ellpagg as an evil, red-eyed monster. Despite being badly beaten, Carver manages to defeat the illusion. Meanwhile, Ellpagg wakes up alone and is attacked by what he sees as a Lurker, which turns out to be The Carver. Carver believes that he's still fighting the corrupted Ellpagg and attacks him, badly beating Ellpagg and skinning his arm. Despite this, Ellpagg fights back and manages to overpower Carver, mocking him as he does so. Ellpagg demands to know what Carver saw, to which he replies, "a broken chain". Frustrated, Ellpagg goes off alone to confess to the Cloud9 audience."End Part I [ Finale: Paradise Lost ]", The Knight Shift. He returns to find that his fight with The Carver has left Carver bleeding. Unaware of why this has happened, Ellpagg finds out that Carver's human vessel, Luke, is slowly taking over in The Infernous, causing him to become mortal; this means that the injuries he sustained during the fight, while appearing minor, will end up killing him. Ellpagg frantically tries to find a fix to this; learning that the Hethe travel through the Infinity Hallway, he runs up to find them. As Ellpagg reaches the Hallway, however, Carver apparently dies off screen, and his power transfers to the nearest conduit: Ellpagg. This strips Ellpagg of his Arkn traits, giving him the powers of a Dekn Lord along with all of his lost memories — plus The Carver's. This suddenly hits Ellpagg, and he learns of the Arkn Lords' plan to not only betray him, but turn him into a Dekn Lord to show the Arkn that one of their own can fall as far as Hash'born. Ellpagg gouges out his eyes in anguish as his wings are destroyed. After recovering, Ellpagg (donning his former knight's armor and a new pair of metallic wings) wanders through the Infernous, finding it completely empty. In desperation, Ellpagg returns to the Infinity Hallway, but find that it, too is empty. Enraged, he decides to raise up new allies in the ArknAngels; he uses his amplified power over time and timelines to awaken the ArknAngels, save for Raphael (in which case he instead gives Tobias Kestler a note that reads, "YOU'RE TAKING THEM WRONG")"I Got The Message", MedBoy789.. He inserts himself into Michael's second reality and poses as his Guardian Arkn (when in reality, he is already in his post-shift state), departing just before "Infernous escape"-era Knight arrives. Returning back to his own time and The Infernous, Knight finds Uriel, now known as Alex Winter, and tears up three pieces of paper (reading "FIND. AND. RECORD") that will inevitably lead to his awakening. Returning to the Infernous for the last time, Ellpagg officially denounces his role as a Dekn Lord and severs all ties with the Arkn, declaring himself to be his own entity — and, as such, a god. Calling himself the "God of Beetles" (an aspect that was formerly his weakest suit), he declares his intentions to create a new party that both sides will fear: one that will end the Arkn-Dekn war, by any means necessary. As Ellpagg makes his escape from the Infernous, the Cloud9 stream shuts down, displaying what looks like editing errors as the reason (when in reality, Ellpagg has escaped and is coming for the viewers). After butchering the entirety of Cloud9's viewership, Ellpagg goes on to found the neutral kingdom of Arkaissa, where all individuals who want nothing to do with the War can live in safety."11) The Fib", The Knight Shift: End Times. Non-Canon Conclusion At the end of the final installment of The Knight Shift, a series of end cards appear. The texts recap the ending of the series, and go on to reveal Ellpagg's fate beyond the events of TKS. This summary, while originally intended to foreshadow spin-offs and follow-ups to TKS, was rendered non-canon as the plot of the Arknthology evolved and changed. The text explains that following the creation of Arkaissa, Ellpagg allows himself to be arrested by the Arkn and put in the same prison Uriel was. Learning that Uriel escaped, Ellpagg decides to find out what he did, but is instead given the death penalty for his treason against the Arkn. Rather than be executed, he is given the chance of joining a suicide squad of Arkn being sent into a newly discovered rift of existence, The Necrodiumadris. After encountering a new being known as a Deedrn, (or Deedren, as the Arkn refer to them) Ellpagg is nearly killed before being offered a deal by the Deedrn, Indroi Facillis. The deal allows Indroi to possess Ellpagg as he left the Necromiunmadris (as Indroi was unable to leave without a host), in return for being healed and granted more power (in case the two ever met up again and he wanted revenge). Having escaped and parted ways with Indroi, Ellpagg finds Raphael again and offers him a chance to join him in ending the war. Raphael convinces Ellpagg that it is unlikely to happen, but that he could help, to which Ellpagg decides to ponder on his choices for an eon or two. Returning to his home realm in an undisclosed area of Existence, Ellpagg went into hiding, and has remained there in lore since. This history is revealed to be a passage from the Arknchron, ''which is being read by Michael Knight."End Part I [ Finale: Paradise Lost ]", ''The Knight Shift. Episodes Act I * Part I: [ In the Dragon's Den ] (Deleted) * [The Knight|[1 The Knight]] *[ In the Waiting Room ] *[Plague|[2 Plague]] *[ In the Wizard's Castle ] *[Madness|[3 Madness]] *[Ephellogue|[4 Ephellogue]] *[ In the Monster's Gaze ] *[5 Bullet] *[6 Torment] *Repressed Memories *[ In a Broken State of Mind ] *7 Trivial *VID00001 *[The Shift|[8 The Shift]] Act II * [ In My Neck of the Woods ] *9-1 Fear of the Reaper *9-2 Fear of the Reaper *[ At the End of the Line ] *10 Accusation *End Part I [ Finale: Paradise Lost ] Behind the Scenes Production * The Knight Shift is the second installment in the Arknthology storyline. It serves as an introduction to (among other things) Ellpagg, The Carver, Cloud9, the Infernous, and Dragonier. * The earliest concept for the series (before it became an Arkn Mythos story) was a straightforward haunted house story. This is reflected in the leitmotif, "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This"; the lyrics "Some of them want to use you/Some of them want to get used by you" and "Some of them want to abuse you/Some of them want to be abused" were intended to reflect themes of ghostly abuse and possession. Deleted Scenes * One deleted scene, in which The Carver and Ellpagg prepare pizza rolls in the kitchen during their mutual imprisonment, Other, Misc. * The series deconstructs a number of traditional fairy tale motifs and tropes: ** The protagonist is "The Knight", and fancies himself to be a brave hero. However, he frequently has no shining armor, and is often cowardly, hot-headed, and egotistical. In the end, instead of defeating "the evil", the designated hero gives in to the evil, switches roles with the antagonist, and turns against his own people. ** The main antagonist, The Carver (The "Dragon") is a Satanic archetype: a "corrupter" figure associated with "fallen angels" who rules over a hellish dimension. In the end, he becomes a sympathetic figure who falls victim to the "hero". *** The secondary antagonist, Redgrave, is also introduced as a Satanic archetype, but is later revealed to be a somewhat benevolent figure who merely took on the "Satan" role. ** The "Wizards" are the Hethe, the sculptors of Existence. They aren't very wise, and ultimately are no help to the protagonist at all. ** The main setting, the Infernous is called the "Dragon's Den", and is a stand-in for Hell. ** Redgrave has a plastic fairy wand, which is used not for its supernatural abilities, but as a simple torture device. References Category:Webseries Category:Closed Source Category:The Arknverse Category:Arknthology Category:Arknthology Act I Category:Webseries (The Arknverse)